AL East Notes: Swisher, Werner, Orioles

The Orioles are still baseball’s only undefeated team, moving to 6-0 after today’s 9-7 win over the Red Sox. Chris Davis broke a 6-6 tie in the ninth with a three-run homer off Craig Kimbrel (making his home debut for Boston) to score the game’s deciding runs. Here’s some more from around the AL East…

Yankees GM Brian Cashman told reporters (including George A. King III of the New York Post) that Nick Swisher hadn’t yet signed a reported minor league deal with the club as of Monday afternoon. Swisher will still have to pass a physical for the contract to become official, which could be difficult given his history of knee problems. Several opposing scouts weren’t impressed by Swisher’s health during Spring Training, with one scout telling King that Swisher’s “legs are gone.” The Yankees, however, felt Swisher could still contribute as a backup option at first, left field or DH, as Cashman said the club liked what they saw when Swisher faced them as a member of the Braves during the spring.

In a radio interview on the Ordway, Merloni & Fauria show, Red Sox chairman Tom Werner expressed surprise that some Sox fans felt ownership would influence certain lineup decisions, most notably insisting that high-priced Pablo Sandoval retain his starting job. “Really our influence extends that we want the best lineup and we want to win now. Beyond that it’s up to John [Farrell] and Dave [Dombrowski] and the coaching staff to come up with the best lineup every day,” Werner said. “I think a lot has been made of this. Maybe there are some owners who would exert that kind of influence. The only influence that we would have is to say, ’You’re free to do whatever you want to do, and you shouldn’t worry about salary. You should worry about putting out the best lineup.’ ” WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford has a partial transcript of Werner’s interview.

Jimmy Paredes is making progress in recovering from a sprained left wrist, though once he returns from the DL, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko notes that the Orioles could have a bit of a roster crunch. Paredes is out of options, so he’d have to pass through waivers for the O’s to send him to Triple-A and there isn’t an obvious candidate to remove from the 25-man roster. Kubatko also notes that Mychal Givens, T.J. McFarland or Tyler Wilson could be send down once Brian Matusz makes his expected return from injury on Thursday.